Teachers Play “Students for the Day”(AGENDA)

Visitors to the J.E. Hall Center in Pensacola on Saturday, November 23 might have been surprised at the “learning” atmosphere in the classroom as an inflated globe was thrown from person to person.  The exercise was part of lesson about the structure of planet earth, water vs. land, designed to demonstrate that the earth is 75% water.  As each participant caught the globe, they stated whether their right thumb was on land or water, and shared some water-related fact with the group.  Results were tallied, and indeed reflected ¾ of the catches on some waterbody.

This activity was part of a half-day workshop for Escambia County middle and high school science teachers to learn about groundwater and assemble Plexiglas models to take back to their classrooms. Eighteen educators, including a teacher for the homebound, learned a great deal from Dr. Robert Williams, Emeritus Professor and Director of the Illinois Groundwater Project.  Dr. Williams is retired from Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville, and is the mastermind behind the models, aquarium-like tanks that are layered with sand, gravel, and clay to mimic any local aquifer structure.  His Rivers Project, an interdisciplinary high school curriculum project centered on water and begun in 1990, was the basis of this program. In 1992 the curriculum was adapted to middle schools, increasing the reach of the message to several hundred schools across the county.

Sally Cooey, Public Outreach Coordinator for the local Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) office, kicked off the morning with a presentation about the geology of northwest Florida and its importance to our drinking water supply.  This introduction then led to Dr. Williams’ presentation on groundwater and the need to protect it for future generations.  Each of the 18 teachers assembled a model for his or her school with assistance from Dr. Williams, additional volunteers from FDEP, members of the Bay Area Resource Council subcommittee, the Environmental Education Coordination Team (EECT), and four Gulf Breeze High School students.  Each teacher also received the curriculum, H₂O Below, a Groundwater Study, that contains lesson plans and activities for classroom presentation.

The workshop is component of a larger project funded in part by a grant from the Florida Coastal Management Program.  The grant to BARC provides $25,000 that must be matched 1:1 with cash donations, volunteer time, or in-kind donations.  A similar workshop will be conducted early next year for Santa Rosa County teachers and will ultimately provide a groundwater model for each middle and high school in the two-county area.  The models provide hands-on exercises to teach students about the availability of our drinking water, the susceptibility to contamination, and the need for monitoring and protection of this natural resource.

Dr. Williams is a high-energy presenter, who kept the teachers interested and involved.  He was recently named Groundwater Educator of the Year by the Groundwater Foundation, an award that recognizes individuals who understand the importance of groundwater, motivate others to protect groundwater, and lead by example.  Those in attendance at the workshop can attest to “Dr. Bob’s” enthusiasm and qualifications for this award.

At the end of the session, Dr. Bob asked all participants to stand in a circle and to share something that they learned during the workshop or how they felt about the program.  One of the student volunteers commented that she was interested to see teachers working as students so that they could then share what they learned.

Tamie – if you have room, also use the photo titled “outside group”.

Escambia County middle and high school science teachers assemble groundwater models at a November workshop.